Summons
by Lynse
Summary: The request to appear before the Dragon Council was…unexpected. And impossible to refuse. One-shot. Secret Quartet fic (also includes Danny Phantom and Randy Cunningham:9th Grade Ninja)


A/N: For the lovely QueenofHearts7378. Enjoy! Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

"A summons?" Adrien repeated dumbly as he read over the mysterious letter in the relative safety of his bedroom. He'd found it stuffed in between sheets of piano music while practicing after lunch and had begged off to 'study' soon after. Fortunately for him, Nathalie had let him go. "Can they _do_ that?"

"Dragons like to think they have authority over the entire magical world," Plagg said. Adrien felt the kwami land on his shoulder. "They don't, but enough people act like they do that they can get away with it."

"This…. It says they want to _evaluate my magical ability_ and _assess the risk of exposure of the magical world_."

"Which just means Jake hasn't told them about me and that they don't believe you can keep a secret." Plagg sniffed. "You better transform. They didn't give you much warning."

"What do you mean, they didn't give me much warn—?" But the paper was turning to ash in his hands, and wind that shouldn't exist inside his bedroom caused the remains to swirl around him. Adrien cried out for Plagg to transform him as the miniature whirlwind thickened, and then it closed off his view of his room completely.

* * *

When the whirling ash cleared and the dizzying sensation of being caught inside it abated, Adrien found himself standing on the stone floor of some kind of open-air temple. A bright mosaic spread out around him, depicting a battle between two dragons whose names he didn't know. Columns rose on either side, and between them….

Well, between the nearest pair of columns stood someone who looked very much like an elderly man dressed sharply in blue, but Adrien had no doubt that he was much more than he appeared to be.

"Chat Noir. _Bienvenue_." The man inclined his head. "I am Councillor Kulde. Please, come with me."

Adrien didn't move. "This is the Isle of Draco." It was more statement than question at this point; he didn't know where else he could be. "Why am I here?"

"You are here because it is necessary for us to meet," answered Kulde, "just as it is necessary for us to meet your friends."

Kulde was a dragon, which meant the friends he was talking about were Randy and Danny. Adrien shifted his weight, readying himself to run if it proved necessary. He doubted he could outrun a dragon, but he might have a chance if he could make it to the trees where Kulde wouldn't be able to easily follow him. "They're here, too?"

"Councillors Andam and Omina are greeting them," Kulde said, as if that explained anything. As if that made a difference.

"So you kidnapped us?"

"You answered our summons."

"How is this a _summons_? I was hardly given a choice!" Anger wouldn't win him any favours, but it was hard to keep his emotions out of his voice.

"The summons were enchanted to come only when you all would not be missed. You needn't worry about being discovered. We are careful."

Adrien wanted to run, to fight, to do anything but go along calmly, but diplomacy was the only thing that might help him—help _them_—right now. Randy was hopeless at it, Danny little better, and Jake…. Jake still had a _lot_ to learn. If anyone was going to speak for them, it would have to be him.

He couldn't afford to give Kulde any more than he already had.

"Very well." Adrien was careful to keep his voice level. Reserved. He tried to emulate his father. That was easier than relaxing his stance. "Please lead the way."

* * *

"This is wonk," Randy insisted as he trailed after the guy who'd introduced himself as Councillor Andam. "You don't need to put us on trial!"

"No one is on trial," Andam said calmly. He didn't pause, and Randy had to run to keep up—not an easy task, given the rocky terrain at the base of the mountain. Or volcano? Whatever it was. Maybe a volcano, considering how much it looked like the base of Mt. Chuck. Either way, he didn't want to get left behind here, especially not when he was pretty sure Jake had said something about sections of this island being booby-trapped.

"It's not like Jake told us about the magical world. We found out on our own."

"Many have discovered it on their own," agreed Andam.

Randy waited, but Andam didn't give any indication that that was okay.

And Jake had mentioned how he technically should've given some kind of mindwipe potion to Trixie and Spud.

Really, Randy already knew this was in his future when he was through being the Ninja; he didn't want to get it prematurely. Again. _Especially_ at the cost of his friendship with the others.

He kept talking, hoping something would get through to Andam, but if the councillor was moved by anything Randy said, he didn't show it. His expression remained calm, composed, and closed. Randy had no idea what he was thinking. Which didn't help matters.

His current rambling probably wasn't helping matters, either, but he kept hoping he'd hit upon _something_.

Andam led him towards what might be some kind of training ground. Okay. Randy could deal with that. He'd brought his mask. He could show them that the Ninja wasn't as incompetent as Jake's stories might have painted him. He could show them that he had the right to defend Norrisville, that he'd been chosen as the Ninja for a reason, that they didn't have any right to say he wasn't fit to be the Ninja of Norrisville. He could prove himself and show off some bruce moves.

Probably.

Randy spotted Adrien, already masked as Chat Noir, but he couldn't see Danny or Jake. To be fair, Randy wasn't sure if he _would_ see Jake. Their association with Jake must be why they were here, why this Dragon Council had used some teleportation magic Jake had never mentioned to bring them here, but these people trusted Jake, more or less. He was the American Dragon, and they hadn't stripped him of that. And…and maybe they wouldn't see Danny, either. Ghosts were technically magical creatures, and if Danny was half-ghost, he wasn't any different from Jake, who was half-dragon.

But Randy was like Adrien: an ordinary kid who needed to use magic—someone else's magic—to have any special powers.

Andam left him standing beside Adrien and moved to join the group of adults standing opposite them. It…it really felt like a trial, even if it wasn't supposed to be. And of the people on the council….

Randy frowned and pointed at the sole woman. "What's she doing here?"

"That's Councillor Chang," Adrien hissed.

"What the juice? Isn't she the evil one?"

Adrien's kick wasn't very subtle, but Randy got the point: shut up. Making accusations wouldn't help them, and if Chang was here, she must've been cleared of whatever charges had been against her.

Seriously, though. She was the evil one. Randy was not about to trust her. If he had known she'd be here, he'd have put on his mask so she couldn't see his face. Which is probably what he should've done anyway, but it was Sunday, and he'd been in the middle of breakfast, and who would've thought opening the mail would require him to be masked? He was lucky he'd had it on him at all.

"Do you know if Danny's coming or if it's just us?" Randy asked, this time trying to keep his voice low.

"I think he's here," Adrien answered quietly. "You came with Councillor Andam, so Councillor Omina is supposed to be meeting him."

Randy didn't remember which one Omina was, but he hadn't remembered which one Andam was, either. He only really remembered Chang, since Jake had gone into great detail about her so they all knew who to avoid in case she ever showed up on their turf.

Councillor Omina turned up about five minutes later—though it felt more like fifteen or twenty, Adrien didn't look the least bit fidgety, so it couldn't have been that long—from the direction of the beach, with Danny (as Phantom) trailing sourly behind her. He looked wet, which was weird, because he could just go intangible and dry off.

Randy wondered how much he was going to regret the Dragon Council knowing his real identity. Since magic had been involved in getting him here, they probably hadn't needed to know who he was; the magic letter could have just been enchanted to find the Ninja. Sure, they still might not know his name, but now they knew his face, and—

"My apologies for the delay," Omina said smoothly. "Phantom is stubborn."

Danny wiped at the water dripping from his hair into his eyes. "Hey, I still came, so you can stop it with the water curse thing already."

Omina just smiled. The other councillors nodded, and Randy didn't see anything change, but all of a sudden Danny was dry, so Omina must have stopped whatever she'd been doing.

Danny was still scowling when he flew over to hover by Randy and Adrien, though. Randy knew he didn't like remaining intangible for long periods of time—he claimed it was too tiring—and Randy could only guess that whatever magic Omina had done counted on that. That wasn't entirely comforting. He'd thought, from the letter, that the Dragon Council didn't know much about them, but….

"Thank you for joining us today," said Andam. He introduced the councillors again and basically repeated what the letter had said about why they were here. As far as Randy could tell, Jake hadn't told them much, if anything, and they wanted to know more.

Randy itched to sit down, but Adrien hadn't moved, and Danny was cheating by floating cross-legged in the air.

No one offered them chairs, but Chang brought forward a selection of food and beverages from a table Randy hadn't noticed earlier. (He wasn't sure if it had actually _been_ there earlier or if he just hadn't noticed it. Hard to tell when magic was involved.) None of them took anything, and judging by Danny's glare, he didn't need Adrien's confirmation that Chang was the evil councillor. She'd probably poison them as soon as drug them with something, just to distract Jake long enough for her to get whatever she wanted for whatever she was trying to do now.

Randy didn't realize how much he'd zoned out the entire discussion until Danny burst out, "This is so stupid! You can't keep us here. You had no right to bring us here. Chat Noir and the Ninja were entrusted with the secrets that allow them to be Chat Noir and the Ninja. They can keep a secret. They already _are_ keeping secrets, theirs and yours. And I'm a ghost. Doesn't that mean you're supposed to protect me, too? Not _interrogate_ me?"

Councillor Kukulkhan stepped forward. "The Panther once protected my people. My ancestors worked with him. Honoured him. And then he vanished, and the old ways faltered, and the Central American Dragons of the time were not enough to save them. The magical society was decimated, the common populace little better. How can I be sure that the same pattern will not be repeated here?"

Adrien swallowed. "You wish to hold me responsible for crimes committed generations past, ones of which I have little to no knowledge?"

"The fault is your own," Councillor Omina retorted. "You cannot stand here and claim to uphold a legacy when you do not understand it or know its histories. My people were also visited by the Black Cat, and my land was lost to the waters because of it."

Adrien winced, and Randy guessed he'd heard that story.

"The Norisu Nine are also not without fault," Chang put in. "Were they competent, there would be no need for the Norrisville Ninja today."

"Hey! The Sorcerer is one shnasty piece of work. And if you guys are so great, why didn't you help them defeat the Sorcerer in the first place?"

Chang's lip curled. "You would know that answer if you knew any of the history of the land in which you live."

"We don't intend to bring harm to the magical community any more than we do to the people we protect every day," Adrien said. "The Ninja will protect Norrisville as long as is necessary. I will do the same in Paris, and Phantom in Amity Park. When needed, we will work together with the American Dragon, regardless of where that fight takes us. Because of what we do, you and the other dragons are free to deal with larger issues affecting the magical community. Is that not true?"

Chang smiled. "Then surely you will not protest proving your worth, as the American Dragon has?"

"Proving our worth how?" Danny asked suspiciously. "You know about us. You already know what we can do."

"A more formal evaluation would not be amiss," Kulde said quietly. "I would test your judgement in fire."

"And I your wisdom in battle," said Andam.

"And I your courage in flight," added Chang.

"He's the only one who can fly!" Randy protested, pointing at Danny.

Chang shrugged. "Your courage in _fight_, then."

Danny crossed his arms. "Fine. When do we start?"

The dragons transformed. "Now," cackled Chang, sending a wave of fire at them.

* * *

Danny bit back a curse and flew at Randy and Adrien, turning them all intangible before the flames hit. He hadn't fought enough practice battles with Dora to be wholly comfortable with something like this, but he probably had more experience fighting dragons than the other two.

"We need a plan," Adrien said.

"Don't have time for plans!" Randy was digging through his pockets, trying to find his mask. "We need to move!"

Adrien grimaced. "Stay with Randy till he's transformed. I'll distract them."

Danny didn't argue. As the flames died down, Adrien rolled away from them and pulled out his staff, vaulting over the dragons and then spinning it to deflect further flames and— That was ice. Kulde could breathe _ice_.

Danny could handle ice.

"What do you think?" Randy asked once he was suited up. "Ninja Tengu Fireball or Ninja Hydro Hand or Ninja Air Fist or Ninja Earth Attack?"

"I think your all attacks have long names," Danny retorted. "But if you go with your water fist, don't waste your time around Omina."

Randy groaned. "_Fine_. I'll see how she likes a Ninja Electro-Ball and then fight fire with fire." He broke off, taking the right flank since Adrien was coming more from the left.

Danny turned invisible and shot forward, shooting ghost rays or ice blasts in turn to buy his friends the time they needed. He didn't think he'd win a battle of wills against any of the dragons if he tried to overshadow them, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to use every other trick he had.

Including, if it came to it, his ghostly wail.

The island was uninhabited but for them, anyway.

And Adrien would use his Cataclysm if he needed to.

The dragons all had different fighting styles, none of which resembled Jake's, which made predicting their moves difficult. But Adrien's agility meant he wasn't an easy target, and Randy called up an army of Sandjas to help them fight on the ground while tossing everything he had at the dragons. Danny stuck with protecting them from the air—and distracting the dragons from there, especially when he saw Adrien vault over to talk to Randy.

Those two began coordinating their attacks, trying to divide and conquer, and Danny helped out however he could.

By the time Andam called for the battle to halt, Danny was exhausted and headed immediately for the ground. Randy gave up and just lay down after pulling off his mask, and Adrien was hunched over, his hands on his knees as he took huge gulps of air. Danny had no idea how Adrien had gotten through the fight without using Cataclysm—he hadn't been able to watch that closely—but he knew it wouldn't have been easy.

The dragons themselves, back in human form, showed the occasional battle scar—a cut on the cheek, a favoured wrist, that sort of thing—and though they stood as straight as before, their fatigue was easier to see.

"Well fought," said Andam. The admiration was clear in his voice. "You showed much wisdom in battle."

"And excellent judgement in fire," said Kulde.

Chang sniffed. "Your courage was adequate, I suppose."

Danny raised an eyebrow, but at a warning look from Adrien, he didn't open his mouth.

"We have proven our worth, as you requested," Adrien said. "Now let us return home and—"

"Not so fast." Chang raised a finger. "I said your courage was adequate, but that is not enough."

"Councillor," warned Andam.

"I agree with Councillor Chang," Omina said, earning surprised looks from everyone, including Chang herself. "I believe that if you are to be protectors of the magical world, as you are by the very virtue of who you are—the Ninja, the Phantom, the Black Cat—you should understand what it is you are protecting."

Randy sat up. "You want us to come here for history class?"

"Additional training also would not be amiss," Kukulkhan pointed out, "particularly if you intend to work regularly with the American Dragon."

"None of us have time for additional classes," Danny said flatly. "History, training, whatever. We're not coming here once a week or anything like that. We fight well as a team already." He glanced at Adrien and then risked adding, "Besides, we're not intending to tell you any more about our secrets, so don't think you can bring us here on some excuse just to study us."

He thought Adrien would rebuke him for that—silently, given that they were trying to make the point that they were a good team already—but instead, Adrien smiled. "Dragons," he said, quite clearly, "do not have authority over the entire magical world. If our areas truly endangered yours, you would have sought us out long before we began working with the American Dragon."

Danny shared a surprised look with Randy, but none of the dragons corrected Adrien, so he must have been right.

"If you wish to speak with us again," added Adrien, "please inform the American Dragon. He will hereby act as our contact with the Dragon Council, and he will arrange any subsequent meetings in accordance to our schedules. We will not decline a meeting without good reason, so a summons like we all received today will be unnecessary. Is that clear?"

Kulde smiled. "Crystal," he agreed. "Your demands are quite reasonable, Chat Noir, as are your concerns. Allow me to extend my apologies on behalf of the Dragon Council for your seemingly abrupt meeting with us all today. I can assure you we did not mean to cause alarm."

Randy groaned. "Can we please just go home now? I really want to finish breakfast."

Andam laughed, and the tension amongst the council members drained away. Well, except for Chang. She still looked more than unhappy, but she didn't protest when Andam invited them to stay for lunch. Danny, Randy, and Adrien found themselves served from the same plates of food as the dragons themselves—which was just as well, since none of them trusted Chang as far as they could throw her, meaning they didn't take anything until they saw the dragons partake freely. (If Chang was going to pull something, it wouldn't be in front of the entire council, not after they'd agreed to play nice.) The food was _good_, some of the best Danny had ever had, though after growing up in a household with regularly contaminated food, his standards weren't terribly high.

"Good job getting us through that," Danny murmured to Adrien when he had the chance.

"Thank Plagg later," Adrien whispered back, "though I wouldn't have been able to do it if we hadn't held up as well as we did in the fight. They wouldn't have believed anything I said if we couldn't back it up."

Danny grinned and raised his glass. "To teamwork."

Adrien smiled, raising his, and Randy hastily swallowed and clinked their glasses. "To teamwork," they echoed.


End file.
